Albuquerque

The other day I was returning something at Home Depot and had to show my ID.

The cashier took one look at my driver's license and exclaimed, "You're from Hawaii? What are you doing in New Mexico?"

I get that a lot.

The short answer is, I moved here in 1997 and there's just enough inertia to keep me here.

The long answer is below.

When I was in high school and first learned to drive, I was excited about driving. Learning to drive meant freedom. I didn't care about how much it cost, and I didn't know about the environmental impact of driving.

But as I've gotten older, cars no longer appeal as much as they used to. These days I have a car, but I prefer to walk, ride my bike, or take the bus as much as possible.